Diggs "It's the same S*** every week."

[Guest]

@silverjoel said:

@FSUVike said:
Great Defenses are helping the Bears & Ravens WIN games. The Vikings Defense is keeping them IN games. As a Roster Construction enthusiast that's not good enough for me when I look at how much resources have been invested in one side of the ball vs. the other.

You all feel differently and are giving the Defense a pass. Fine. I'm not. And my biggest pet peeve remains teams running the ball straight up the gut.

Seriously, I hate getting run on up the middle like Sauron hates hobbits. Like Sheer Khan hates fire. Like Eleven hates men in lab coats. Like Thanos hates 50% of life.

And when you contrast that with Minnesota's inability to run in between the Tackles it becomes that much more frustrating.

I don't have anything for "straight up the gut", I'm sure there's something out there, but I'm not looking it up.  Here's rushing on 1st down though.



Look, fan "perception" is just not reality.  Everything can't be viewed in a vacuum.  

Thanks for posting this. It is actually a vacuum stat as well, though. Does it break down by Quarter? As you said, it's all 1st Down runs. And it's an Average. Are teams getting stuffed running off tackle but fairing much better up the middle?

I think it was Greed who wondered aloud if perhaps Mike comes out scheming to take away certain pass plays early in games that leads to being more vulnerable to runs overall. Then, as the game progresses he starts focusing more on stopping the ground game.

But I have a larger question. Don't the #s Silver posted seem high to be Top 10 against the run? I'd be curious to see if that Average Yards Per Attempt number has generally been going up. If this year is abnormally high does that signal that the whole League is generally more focused on stopping the pass first and living with giving up more rushing yards?

It's all very fascinating. Will teams start prioritizing pass rushing and Sticky coverage guys to the extent that some team will field a Redskins Hogs type O-Line and just run the ball down everyone's throats? The Cowboys are trying to do that but just don't have that same caliber of Line without their Center.

That's why this Draft is going to be so interesting. There's a ton of Starting Caliber DTs. Will the ones who are consistently able to pressure the QB become much more desirable than a true run stuffing NT? Will LBs that can cover replace more traditional guys? Will 2nd Round Offensive Talent artificially rise into the 1st as teams try to keep up with the Arms Race?

I also wonder if you'll see more Defenses like the Rams and Chiefs and Saints that seem (to me anyways) to prioritize getting turnovers on Defense more than preventing scoring.

Or will there be more Bend but Don't Break styles like Minnesota has become?

Very interesting times in the NFL ahead.

[Guest]

@FSUVike said:


2.  You have far more assets invested in that side of the ball. Where are the turnovers? The Defensive scores? For a Defense First type of team you aren't producing much in the way of game changing moments like the Bears or Ravens.

The turnovers - lack of them produced by the Vikings defense - are the key. Look at our defensive stats since Zimmer arrived: we are always in the teens for INTs, in the twenties for forced fumbles. That means we don't scare opposing offenses much, because without that threat, they can chip away all game, find a weakness, and beat us in the 4th quarter. Defenses like the Bears and Rams score points, make opponents afraid games will turn into a rout. Zimmer has a cautious defensive philosophy: he fears coaching his players to gamble on INTs will lead to more completions, and tackling to force fumbles leads to missed tackles. Maybe so. But answer this: what team NOW is the "great defense" of the NFC North? If you didn't say Bears, you're wearing purple blinders.